Various types of ultrasonic handpieces are used for surgical application, for example, opthamological surgery for removing cataracts or other tissue. Typically, such handpieces use some type of a vibrating transducer of the magnetostristic or piezoelectric type which converts electrical energy to mechanical vibration.
Such types of ultrasonic handpieces also are capable of supplying irrigation fluid to the operating site in which the transducer is to be used and also to produce a suction pressure for removing the material which has been emulsified by the ultrasonic transducer. It is also known that in such ultrasonic transducers that the irrigation fluid and the suction is supplied through tubes associated with the transducer and are partially or totally within the housing which houses the transducer. Usually in the case of a magnetostristic type of transducer, the tubes are laid along and outside the stack of laminations forming the vibrating structure. It is desirable to reduce the overall size of the housing so that the transducer becomes easier for the user to hold and manipulate.
It is also often desirable to increase the operating power output of such transducers. In magnetostrictive type transducers, this can be done by increasing the size of the lamination stack and/or the coil wire size to provide additional current. Neither approach offers desirable solutions since they increase the transducer size and/or its heat output.
In addition, it is desired to improve the emulsification action and to confine it more closely to or within the work top.